Bird Flu Batallion: Poultry culling operations being carried out in Chengmari, Phuentsholing last week

Bird Flu Outbreak 3 March, 2010 - Nu 115,376 has been paid as compensation for the culling of 795 adult birds, young poultry and day old chicks, and the destruction of 91 coops and 157 eggs, following the recent outbreak of bird flu in Rinchending, four kilometres from the border town of Phuentsholing.

As of yesterday 1,119 poultry were culled, 140 coops dismantled and destroyed and 250 eggs disposed of in and around Rinchending and Pasakha areas.

The compensation for an adult bird is Nu 225, Nu 83 for young poultry and day old chicks, Nu 6 an egg and Nu 200 for a coop, according to livestock officials.

“The owners are paid 75 percent of the market rate,” said the regional veterinary officer of department of livestock, Dr Basant Sharma. The compensation is being paid from the World Bank bird flu project fund initiated in 2007.

“The ban will continue for a minimum of three months from now,” said the focal person of the national centre animal health (NCAH), Dr Karma Rinzin. “The outbreak could be a result of illegal import of poultry or wild birds carrying the flu.”

The first death of a poultry bird was reported on February 13, after which eight chickens died and 14 tested positive. The samples were sent for tests to Thailand and India.

A team, comprising officials from livestock department, health, police and Bhutan agriculture and food regulatory authority (BAFRA) are carrying out the 3D action of depopulation, disposal and decontamination in the affected areas. Quarantine measures, like disinfection of vehicles and people in the affected areas like Pasakha, are also being carried out.

Bhutan has enforced bans on the import of poultry products several times since the bird flu first hit South East Asia in 2004.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), avian influenza, first identified in Italy in 1878, is an infectious disease of birds, caused by type A strains of the influenza virus, and occurs worldwide. To date, human cases have been reported in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam.

“H5N1 avian influenza in humans is still a rare disease, but a severe one that must be closely watched and studied, particularly because of the potential of this virus to evolve in ways that could start a pandemic,” states WHO.

Despite the flu, chicken meat is still available in some hotels in Phuentsholing and across the border in Jaigaon. “I’ve heard that if the meat is cooked properly, it’s safe to eat,” said a Thimphu resident. “So I had chicken butter masala in Phuentsholing before driving up to Thimphu.”